Happy Birthaversary!

Who's got awesome plans this weekend? Oh, me!!!!

I am heading to the Twin Cities with my mom, dad & sister to celebrate my paternal grandparents. This past June, my grandmother celebrated her 80th birthday, January 2011 marks their 60th wedding anniversary, and June 2011 marks my grandfather's 80th birthday. 80TH BIRTHDAYS!! 60TH WEDDING ANNIVERSARIES!!! We'll also throw in a visit to the Uptown Art Fair, the Mall of America, and dinner with my hilarious godfather and his family.

The par-tay is going to be awesome. My aunt has over 100 RSVP's. That's a lot of frickin' people, most of whom my grandparents have known for the better part of their 60 years of marriage. Most of them also saw me in diapers, or watched me chase my grandparents cat down the stairs (the cat won). My grandmother has also undoubtedly told them the day I started my period, when I stopped sucking my thumb, and how often I wet the bed as a little kid (never!). What can I say, she's just proud! The party will be filled with people 30 years, at least, my senior, who are going to want to know how I am, where I'm working, how long it's been since I graduated college, and when I'm going to start producing great-grand-babies. The answer to the last question is entirely dependent on the male species, with whom I am currently waging a war, so when the question of great-grand-babies comes up I might run to the bathroom and cry. That's after my throat is practically numb from yelling because let's be honest... at 80 years old your hearing ain't at it's finest.

Despite all of those things, I am beyond excited about this weekend. Something about my first memorable family reunion that screams fun! excitement! drama! yelling! posing for pictures! gossip! And most importantly of all, I get to see my mama. I miss her. I'm bringing her a present. It's not from me, it's from my dad. Wanna know why? They are celebrating 26 years of being married next week! Last year for 25 years I made them a scrapbook with letters & pictures from friends and family, so this year I feel no guilt in doing nothing but showing up in Minneapolis. That's present enough, right?

Happy Anniversary Mom, Dad, Grandma, Grandpa, and everyone else in the whole world. I'm proud of you and inspired by you and can't wait for someone to celebrate me one day! (yep, always gotta bring it back to me.)